Chapter Fifty-seven
Margie, Riley, Lois and the children couldn’t get flights out before Christmas, but by some miracle, they were able to fly to Boston and arrive late Christmas Day. It required two vehicles to pick everyone up at the airport, so Holly came with me in my car and Dr. James followed in his.
The whole way there, snow was falling in giant fat flakes that floated in the air like something out of a dream.
“I hope you realize,” Holly said, reaching for my hand as we approached the airport, “that none of this would be happening if you hadn’t knocked on my door that day.”
“Or if I hadn’t been shot,” I added with a sidelong glance that alluded to a host of other strange and inexplicable things—like the fact that I had seen and spoken to Leah, who died the same night I was shot and who had perhaps decided to stick around long enough to turn me into her final psychiatric case.
Had I needed her help?
Most definitely, yes.
Or maybe she just wanted me to be her messenger.
* * *
I won’t lie and pretend it was an easy, joyful greeting at the baggage carousel. The children were oblivious to any family tension, of course, and Mrs. James was quick to rush into her husband’s arms. Riley and Lois, however, were reserved, as was Dr. James when they shook hands. I suspected the tension and hurt would linger for quite some time to come. Maybe it would never be resolved completely, but at least Riley had agreed to bring his children home for Christmas, so it was a positive first step.
After we collected everyone’s bags, we returned to the house where Riley spent many of his most difficult teen years—the house he had not seen in over a decade. He was quiet as we entered and he took his time looking around at all the familiar pieces of furniture, photographs and knick-knacks.
Before we’d departed for the airport, Holly had prepared a traditional turkey dinner which she reheated on the stove when we arrived. The children were rambunctious and misbehaved terribly, but Dr. James somehow managed to bite his tongue and allow sippy-cups in the parlor when it came time to open the gifts.
* * *
“Come outside with me?” I said to Holly after Riley and Lois herded the children off to bed. “It’s a beautiful night.”
She smiled and took my hand.
A few minutes later, we were standing in our coats and boots on the covered veranda by the outdoor tree we had set up that morning.
“It all went well, don’t you think?” Holly said, reaching out to touch a golden angel ornament that hung from one of the lower branches.
“It was perfect.” I watched her stroll around the tree and felt completely beguiled by her every move.
“The kids had a good time,” she added. “Danny liked the toy gas station we picked out for him with all the dinky cars.”
“I loved that stuff when I was his age.”
She paused to re-arrange a section of lights. I waited until she draped it properly, then I moved a little closer. “There’s still one more present, though.”
“Really?” She seemed distracted by a twisty length of garland she wanted to straighten. “Who’s it for?”
“You.”
She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. I tossed my head slightly to indicate a small blue velvet box tied by a silver ribbon to the tallest bough.
She let out a small laugh and I suspected she was about to humor me. “Who’s it from?” she asked, refraining from taking it down. She probably couldn’t reach it anyway.
“Why don’t you open it and find out?” I reached up to free it from the bough, then got down on one knee.
Holly covered her mouth with a hand and smiled.
“Holly James,” I said. “I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you, twenty-five years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday, and now here we are.” I paused to swallow and take a breath. “I think maybe you’re the reason I came back from wherever it was I went on the night I was shot, and thank God for that. Or maybe it was Leah who sent me back. Gave me a shove… Maybe she knew you were meant to be my wife.”
I opened the box and showed Holly the ring I had chosen just for her—a classic diamond trinity. She gasped and dropped to her knees in front of me.
“Will you marry me?” I asked.
She nodded in a hurry, laughing as I slid the ring onto her finger. “It’s so beautiful!” she cried, holding it up to the light shining down on us from the top of the tree.
We both stood up and she wrapped her arms around me. I held her close, closed my eyes and touched my lips to hers.
A moment later, we looked up to admire the decorations on the tree, and listened to the distant sound of carolers somewhere down the street.
“There’s something I’ve been wondering about,” Holly said tentatively.
“What is it?”
“When Dad went to your apartment with Oliver in the Christmas box, he said he came home to find the tree all lit up. But didn’t we turn off all the lights when we left? I was sure we did.”
For a long while, I thought about what she was asking, then I looked up at the angel on top of the tree. “A year ago I would have come up with some sort of rational explanation for that, but after everything that’s happened, I’m beginning to accept that maybe some things just happen, and they aren’t meant to be explained.”
The grandfather clock began to chime from inside the house, but I barely heard a thing as I pulled Holly close and bent my head to kiss her.